Directionless
by TwistedKitsune
Summary: Naruto is a torture victim. He manages to escape and is blindly searching for Konoha to warn them about a future kidnap. Will he find it, or die trying? If he does, will they believe what he has to say? AU. Turning into a NaruHina.
1. Or Die Trying

**Well. This started as an idea for a one shot. But I couldn't bring myself to write another story with a tragic ending (granted, "Illusionary World" had an alternate, happier one too, but still…)**

**So this plot has been extended and tweaked, though I might still add in a tragic ending just because I'm like that.**

**If you liked "Illusionary World", well, I think this one is a bit similar. I don't like torture, so I didn't choose to do anything too gruesome. At least, I hope that doesn't count as gruesome.**

**The writing style/tone is the same too. Hope you guys can put up with it again! (I'm talking about the refusal to use his name unless necessary. I think it ruins the mood.)**

**It's totally different than Naruto the anime or manga. So check the bottom if you don't understand some things, or leave a review with your question and I'll explain it to you.**

* * *

Chapter 1—Or Die Trying—

A whip. She chose a whip this morning. Or, he guessed it was the morning. There weren't really any signs in the room. It was windowless, underground, and only had one door that was locked at all times, unless someone was coming in or leaving. So he humored himself, guessing the time, just to force his mind to do _something_.

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto, age 12, was a torture victim.

* * *

It was because of his mother, Uzumaki Kushina.

Oh, don't get him wrong. He loved his mother, and still loves her. But it was because of something she did.

See, Kushina was a medic-nin. One day, she discovered something amazing. She had been researching for years. By theory, if she mixed all the right ingredients together, she could make a healing liquid with amazing powers. Just one drop, when drunk, would heal nearly any physical wound.

One of the ingredients called for her blood. So she did it, she pulled out a whole vial.

She had needed to mix everything together, and then add in the blood. Force it into a controlled explosion, and the results would be the medicine. She tested it, and it worked. She hid it in a place only she knew, and she only ever told her son.

Thing is, people somehow found out about it. Before he knew what was happening, they had taken his mom. Never to be seen again.

* * *

He lived his life in fear. He never knew if, or when, they would come after him.

They did, when he least expected it. And here he was, tortured; they were trying to force out the location of the medicine. They liked to call it "Shina medicine", just to anger him. Sometimes, it worked. Other times, it just made him feel numb.

* * *

He was chained to the floor at two places. One at the area just below the knee, the other at his ankles. They also chained him by his hands; it was held over his head, and caused him to kneel on the ground, back straight up. It pulled him up slightly so that his knees didn't touch the ground, forcing him to either let the chains hold him up painfully or use his lower leg to push himself up. Though his legs hadn't been used in a long while (a few months, he guessed with a humorless chuckle), he forced himself to use them. It was less painful than the other way.

"So, are you going to tell me where it is today, honey?" He hated that voice. It was high pitched; just enough to tell him it was a female, which he hated. Being beaten by a female was more embarrassing, and this particular female had no conscience, resulting in extreme pain for him. It had a weird quality to it, slightly husky yet smooth that hit his ears in all the wrong places, causing cold shivers to run up his spine every time his inflictor talked.

"You know if you tell me I can release you and you can go back to living a pain free life. This hurts me just as much as it hurts you." Her voice was smooth and warm, feigning sympathy. Making him believe that he could get away. He knew he couldn't. Even if he told, they would just kill him.

His lips pressed together tightly. He knew she was frowning, and mentally congratulated himself. At least he had won something. Something little, but it was something.

The whip came down, and his eyes widened in pain as it struck. He forced himself to stay silent though. It would only tempt her.

There was something at the end of the whip. He wasn't sure what it was, but all he knew was that it hurt like hell. It dug itself into his skin and ripped back out.

She flung the whip again, and it dug deeper in. Against his will, a soft pained whimper escaped.

"I don't want to do this, but you're forcing me to." _Liar._ She was a sadist, she loved hurting him. The first time he had gotten tortured, he had cried. She laughed. Laughed at his misfortune, laughed at his pain.

This was her life.

The whip struck him again, and he whimpered softly before biting his lips. The more she knew it hurt, the worse it got.

He could feel the blood running down his back, staining him red.

He searched through his mind for something to think about. Anything. Just to force himself away from what was happening.

He remembered a conversation he had overheard.

* * *

"_So, the Hyuuga heiress?"_

"_Reports say she's weak. Should be simple, though the other Hyuuga's might present a problem. You know, the Byakugan."_

"_Get her here as soon as you can. I want you to leave for Konohagakure in a week."_

"_Yes sir."_

* * *

Konohagakure. He had heard of the place. Supposedly the most peaceful and welcoming of the nations.

The Hyuuga girl really wasn't his problem. He never met her in his life. He didn't even know where he was, or where Konoha was. But…

He felt the whip again. His mind was set.

Even though he didn't know the girl, no one should have to go through this torture. If he could save just one person, it would make all the difference.

Even if he died trying.

* * *

**So, notes…**

**—Naruto has never been in Konoha, he was raised elsewhere by his mom.**

**—There was never an attempted kidnap of Hinata when she was around three. They are just planning it now. (They think she's so weak that time won't matter.)**

**—I chose a female torturer to differentiate between Naruto and the person and because I have no name for her and will probably never name her.**

**—The chapters will be about the length of "Illusionary World", though I'm trying to make it longer.**

**—"Shina Medicine"; "Shina" as in Ku**_shina_**. I'm not the most creative at naming things...But anyways, you don't need to remember it. Most likely, it won't appear again. Just a reason to be in the place.**

—**I have absolutely no idea what's going to happen. So...This will be fun...The torture wasn't too bad, was it?**

**Didn't answer something? Ask (in a review, so there won't be repeats of the same question. Please and thank you!)**

**Next Chapter: Ch2 —Sugar Isn't Always Sweet—**

**Naruto makes an escape and searches for Konoha...will he find it?**


	2. Sugar Isn't Always Sweet

**My vocabulary is limited, so sorry for repeated words. Everything here is made up, so I really have no clue if the stuff is accurate. Really only meant to be a small bit of torture, so if you were reading for it (I don't know…it's possible there are people that like torture) you won't find it in this story.**

**Warning: Shock collar; could count as inhumane (is that the right word?) Overuse of the word 'honey' (It's just her way of speaking, and to distinguish her.) Fighting, might count as a bit gruesome.**

* * *

Chapter 2—Sugar Isn't Always Sweet—

She released the handcuffs and he fell limply to the ground. She smirked.

"You okay, Naruto?" she asked in a false, sugary tone. She slipped something around his neck.

He growled. He heard the soft click of a button, and a strong shock ran through him. He jolted in surprise.

He forced his head up enough to glare at her viciously. She 'tsk'ed, waving the whip playfully in front of his face. She clicked the button again, and he jumped, this time not out of surprise but because of the sting.

"You don't want to do that, honey. I got all day, you know? No one else is here. I'll make you scream in pain until you truly can't make a sound, no matter how hard you try. No one will hear you." She had an evil glint in her eyes.

That was exactly what he wanted to hear.

He had gone through a bit of shinobi training before he was kidnapped. Now, he put it to use by forcing chakra through his body. The burst of power allowed him to spring up and shoved her harshly, hitting her unexpectedly. Her head hit the wall with a loud crack from the sheer strength. Her body slid down, resting at the floor. Her eyes were frozen wide. He could see blood smeared on the stone walls.

He reached into her pocket painfully and pulled out a ring of silver keys. A tired grin reached his face (though it was mixed with a grimace because of his half-numb body). He also found a long roll of bandages, which he carefully wrapped around his bleeding torso.

He dragged himself to the door and fumbled with the keys before he was finally able to insert it into the lock.

The echoing click of it opening was the most beautiful sound he had heard in months.

He pulled open the door just a tiny crack and peeked through. Just as she had said, there wasn't anyone around. Lucky for him. He opened the door just enough for him to slip out. It slid shut behind him; it was a really heavy door. He locked the door behind him. As far as he knew, there was only one key for each room.

He walked down the hallway. It was illuminated by torches, but nothing else. He wasn't sure which way was the exit; he could only hope both ends had one.

He could hear screams from surrounding rooms. Screams that could not be muffled even by the thick doors. He shivered. This place was beyond cruel. He couldn't save them though; there was someone in every room…'attending' to each prisoner.

There. The door at the end. Compared to the other doors—which were metal and spooky—this one looked cheery, an eye-catching yellow color. He snorted. People were being tortured in every room and they go and paint a door yellow. That made _so_ much sense.

He tried the door. It was locked. The key ring had twenty or more keys. He knew the one to his own door because he had seen her use it many times, but this…

He just needed to try every single one.

And quickly. He didn't know when someone would be back.

* * *

_No. No. No. No. No. No…_

* * *

He jammed each key into the lock, frustrated. Then there was a click.

_Of course it would have to be near the last one._

He shook his head; he had no time to waste. He ran outside.

* * *

Blinding. It hurt. He was so stupid.

Light. Of course. Being underground so long, he should have taken the precaution to adjust to it.

His eyes stung. He pressed the palm of his hand against his eyes.

_Shut it out. Shut it out. _His mind couldn't form any other thought.

Slowly, he lifted his hand away, getting used to it little by little.

He was in a forest. Green trees and plants sprung up everywhere.

_Well, great. _He only had one choice. Walk in a random direction. It wasn't like he could ask someone where Konoha was. He shut his eyes and chose the direction that felt right. It wasn't the most reliable way of figuring it out, but for now, it was the only way.

Pumping chakra into his legs once again, he started to run. The trees blurred past him, and soon he got used to the speed and his mind and body felt pleasantly numb and light. He felt almost carefree.

A shock to his body brought him down from his natural high. He stumbled, and grabbed at his neck. The collar was still there. He ripped it off. Then a thought crossed his mind. If it triggered, then someone must have gotten the remote…

He turned around quickly. His torturer was there, remote in hand. Her red hair was messy and matted with blood, and she had an insane look about her. She grinned widely and let the remote fall to the ground.

"Where you going, honey? And here I thought we were becoming such _good_ friends!"

He ran again. His fear and panic were throwing off his chakra control. Though he had the strength to move, each step shot pain through his body.

"You—you're dead!" he cried out hoarsely.

"Oh, honey, you came close to killing me. I'm lucky I survived! You'll be severely punished for that!"

He saw gates. Huge ones that towered over everything. It wasn't too far off, maybe five or ten minutes away.

He heard the swish of air, and he ducked instinctively. A glance to the side showed that it was lucky he did. A kunai was imbedded deeply into the tree roots.

He grabbed it and flung it back towards her. It deflected uselessly off her sword. She lunged forward. The sword pierced his side and it took all his self-control not to scream out.

He wrenched to sword out of his side (stupid move, but he was panicking). She snarled, and he did the only thing he could think of. He plunged the sword straight into her chest. She screamed.

"I'm going to kill you, you fucking little—!" She started coughing violently, and blood came up.

He pulled out the sword and, with one swift movement, cut off her head.

He panted. She was dead. He was free.

He was free!

It should have given him an elated feeling that she was finally gone and out of his life, but staring at the bodiless head made him feel sick. It wasn't the first killing he had done in his life, but it certainly was the most bloody.

His head turned to the side, and he coughed, wanting to throw up, but his stomach was empty. He clutched his newly injured side and forced himself to stand up, stumbling towards the gates. He felt disgusting. Covered in blood —both his and his torturer's—and dirt, he wanted nothing more than to wash himself. Scrub his hands until the feeling of death was gone. He walked on though. He had to warn them.

* * *

**Ooh! Cliffhanger-ish! Sorry, had to do that. **

**First fight scene of my life! It was short, but still. Did I do okay? Oh yeah…I never named his torturer. Hmm…well all I know is she has red hair and has a habit of saying 'honey' in her sentences… (Yeah, sad, even the writer doesn't know.)**

**Does anyone understand the chapter title? If you do, leave a review. I want to see what you think. If you don't and you want to know, you can ask.**

**Wondering whether to just leave it as a tragic two shot with an open ending (leave it to your imagination), make it a tragic three shot with a clear ending (I hate open ended stories…haha), or continue on.**

**If I do continue on...then...**

**Next Chapter: Ch3 —Gentle Touches—**

**Does Naruto make it to Konoha? (Or will I just be evil and kill him...)**


	3. Gentle Touches

**Purely fictional; I don't know if it's possible to move with those injuries and I don't know how to heal them. Just pretend I'm correct, okay? Thanks!**

**And I don't like the beginning…uhh…my head is too jumbled up to figure out how to correct the problem though…sorry.**

**Warning: Hmm…Well, there's a different writing tone in the beginning (I think it's tone; it's just a different feeling compared to the first two chapters because I can't write this one in Naruto's third person point of view.)**

* * *

Chapter 3 —Gentle Touches—

"Kotetsu! We're supposed to be watching the gates!" Izumo yelled angrily at his partner, who was playing with his knife.

"Heh, not like anyone is going to walk in here. We haven't had any visitors for a while, I don't get why we have to do—" he stopped abruptly, his eyes staring at something.

"Kotetsu! That's not funny!"

"Behind you—Kid! Are you okay?" Kotetsu asked frantically. Izumo turned around, expecting a joke.

There was a boy, his whole body—including his hair—covered in blood and dirt. Next to him was a head, fire-red hair shining brightly. Izumo nearly gagged.

"Call a medic!" Izumo ordered. The boy collapsed onto the ground.

* * *

A medic rushed on scene and immediately began checking him. Unfortunately, she was quite new, so she started panicking.

"Uh-h…I…I don't know!" she said nervously.

"Well then get Tsunade!" The poor medic jumped with fright and ran off to fetch the Hokage.

* * *

"What's so important that you have to call me while I'm dr—working!" Tsunade hissed, her honey brown eyes filled with anger.

"Uh—a boy just came into the gates and he's—"

"And why is that important?"

"He's injured." Tsunade immediately became serious, and she turned briskly to look for the boy, Shizune at her side.

Shizune transported the boy onto a stretcher, and they teleported to the hospital.

* * *

"Get a tub filled with warm water. I'll check to see his injuries," Tsunade ordered.

She grimaced as she looked over him. He was covered in filth, and his body was in horrible condition. Broken ribs, twisted ankle, cut up back…those were just a few.

The boy cracked open an eye. It was a deep, pure blue, and she felt a sudden sense of nostalgia. She shook it off; the boy's health was more important.

She started healing him with her own chakra. It glowed, a soft green color around her hands. Sometime in the middle Shizune entered and immediately started helping.

Long hours later, the smells were getting to her head and making her a bit dizzy. She deemed the boy good enough to give a bath to.

Shizune and Tsunade gently eased the boy—with his clothes still on—into the water, which was surprisingly still warm. (Or not that surprising; Shizune got burning hot water so it could cool a bit while they worked. She had worked with Tsunade long enough to expect it.)

The water changed colors, washing away all the foreign objects. A switch of the water, and Tsunade started to wash his hair. The dirt came out easily after being soaked for a bit, but the blood caused the hair to look an odd patchy color.

She scrubbed it hard with shampoo. It lathered up, covering every inch. With a controlled stream of warm water, she washed away the bubbles. Her eyes widened at the color left.

Blond. Richer than her own hair, more golden than anything. Blond hair and blue eyes. _Minato!_

Minato was long dead; he died in a war. But he had a wife and son, who had left soon after his death. _Kushina…_ She wasn't born in Konoha, and she wasn't loyal to it, only Minato. So when he died, she took her son —Tsunade's grandson—and left.

Tsunade heard that Kushina had died (_May she rest in peace_) and had assumed with a heavy heart that her son had died with her. Naruto. That was his name, after Kushina's favorite ingredient in ramen.

* * *

(Back to regular point of view, like chapters 1 and 2. Did I mess up the mood? Was there a mood? I don't know…but if I did, sorry.)

* * *

He opened his eyes slightly. Nothing hurt. It felt like he was floating. His body was numbed beyond belief; it was like he wasn't even there anymore.

His eyes opened wider. His mind was starting to function again. It brought back sounds of beeping and the image of two people. One with light blond hair, tied in neat pigtails, and the other with short black hair, just touching the base of her neck.

He coughed slightly, and the blonde lady jumped slightly, only to relax when she saw it was only him.

"Hey, you okay?" Her voice was warm, like the other lady—his torturer—but it held a different quality. He racked his brain. _Sincere_. That was it. She meant it, unlike the other redhead.

"Hyuuga… Kidnap… Future…The heiress…" he mumbled, eyes drifting shut. Then the words he said drifted to his own ears, and he snapped awake again.

"The Hyuugas! Someone's planning to kidnap the Hyuuga Heiress!" he yelled, before collapsing backwards with loud coughs.

"Shizune! Call Hiashi!" He heard the lady order before he drifted off again. He felt a soothing feeling against his neck.

* * *

He woke up again. Blinking his blue eyes, he surveyed the room carefully. He realized that there were currently three people. (His mind hasn't functioned for a while, so it doesn't connect as well.) The same two ladies from before were there. The new addition was a male—definitely a male, regardless of the long hair, feminine hair—with white eyes that were pupil-less. A bit haunting, but he quickly connected the eyes to the Hyuuga clan.

"Hyuuga-sama!" he exclaimed hurriedly yet politely. "There's…There's going to be an attempt to kidnap the heiress sometimes soon. I heard, they were talking…said in a week's time since I escaped…" he mumbled. It was a bit hard to decipher for Hiashi, who was used to elegant, calm speech, but he allowed an exception for him because he was in the hospital.

"Explain more clearly, please," Hiashi said, confused on the inside yet refusing to show it.

"They said. Kidnap Hyuuga heiress. The person would leave in a week's time, starting the day I escaped," he said after taking a deep, calming breath.

"Who said?"

"The…The Torturers." He had no other name for them; that was all he knew them as. "About twenty or thirty minutes away from here at top speed. I don't know why they wanted to wait a week."

"And they're kidnapping Hinata?" He blinked, confused.

"Hinata? I don't know. They said heiress. There is only one heiress, right?"

"Hm. It sounds reasonable…but why?"

"Uhm…they said…something about a—Byakugan?" he muttered. Hiashi snapped to attention, his eyes clouded with a feeling he couldn't figure out.

"I will take it into consideration."

"Why only consideration?" Tsunade finally spoke.

"I…don't know if the boy is trustworthy," he said slowly. She frowned.

"I'm sure he didn't come _all this way_ to warn you while bleeding profusely and on the brink of death just to trick us," she hissed.

Hiashi only lowered his head in respect and left, no response to her reasoning.

**

* * *

**

Hmm…So is Hiashi going to listen or not? Will Hinata be saved from the future kidnap? (Oh, you know she's going to be kidnapped—or they'll attempt to. Whether they're successful or not depends on Hiashi's decision.) So, what will it be…? (Don't know yet…need to decide…haha.)

Forgot the first two chapters but thanks to these people who reviewed in chapters 1&2:

Kinata-Hyuga, notgonnasay09, geetac, MiwakuAya, and TsukiLove (anonymous reviewer)

**And yeah, chapter 2 was called "Sugar Isn't Always Sweet" because of that one time I used the word 'sugary'. Haha...random. I don't know.**


	4. Guards On Duty

**4/13/11: Update: I've decided that I'm going to delete chapters 5-8 and just end it here as a four-shot because it really bothers me that it's incomplete and going nowhere. (That should teach me not to listen to continuation requests when I have no plot. I already knew it wouldn't go anywhere if I went on…Not that it's anyone's fault for asking for more.) So after the end, basically everything goes back to regular ****Naruto**** plot (as in the manga).**

* * *

Chapter 4 —Guards On Duty—

* * *

Hiashi had to choose. Pull back the clan members from missions because of the tipoff that may or may not be accurate, or leave everything the way it was. The clan members were needed on duty because there had been a severe spike in robbery in and around Konoha.

The guards on duty were more than enough…right?

He coughed. His body was feeling better than it had felt in months—or years; he really couldn't remember. But he was still injured. He stared out the window. It was night time. He could see the stars twinkling.

"Baa-chan, how long have I been here?" Tsunade glared; he had taken to calling her that after she told him she was his grandmother. Then she sighed.

"Six days."

"Hm." It was today then. They would be here. After all, even for him it had only taken a small amount of time. He wondered if the Hyuuga-sama had listened. Best to check, right?

Tsunade left after a few minutes, promising to check on him in the morning. He reached under the bed and pulled out the sword he had used in the battle with his redhead torturer.

Thankfully, Tsunade had cleaned it and allowed him to keep it. It would be suspicious to walk around with a bloody sword, even if it was night time. He was certain people would be able to tell.

He waited a few moments before walking over to the window and unlocking it. It only hurt slightly to walk now, much like feeling a needle instead of the searing burn from before. He was glad.

He opened the window and jumped out, landing neatly on the ground with the grace of a cat. He made sure to shut the window behind him. If anything, an open window would cause panic. They might just think that he went to the bathroom.

He walked around slowly. Konoha was beautiful (if you overlooked a few bad areas, like the rundown apartments far off to the edge of the village; he hoped no one lived there) and peaceful, just like the rumors proclaimed. Not for long, though. Now he just had to find the Hyuuga land.

It was quite simple. Apparently, everyone knew where it was. He just asked a random person, and she replied quickly. (Though she seemed a little nervous at the sight of his sword.)

The Hyuuga clan house shouldn't even qualify as a house. More like a mansion. Two, actually, connected as one. It was that outrageously large.

He crept around. There were many guards, but not a lot. Just enough to cover it, the bare minimum. Hyuuga-sama hadn't listened. He frowned. Did Hyuuga-sama really think he would lie about something that important? And besides, if he did, that would just put more guards and make it harder to kidnap the heiress, wouldn't it? Sometimes he didn't understand adults.

He heard a whimper. Very faint, he would have missed it if he wasn't listening so intently. He closed his eyes, and focused. He could hear twigs snapping off to the side. He crept towards it quietly.

There were two people. One was a young girl with short black hair. Her lavender white eyes were wide open, and she was struggling to get away. Her hands were tied and she was gagged. That had to be the heiress.

The other was an older lady with red hair. He stiffened. Didn't he already kill her? They looked alike. But with a closer inspection, he realized it was his past torturers twin. He knew her, but he couldn't remember a name. He decided to just call her 'Aka' (red in Japanese, noun).

Aka hissed something to the girl, and she stopped moving. He took this as a chance to get closer. Something shone, and he realized Aka was holding a knife. She probably threatened to kill the Hyuuga.

He had one shot at this. Kill her, or she'd kill him. He wasn't particularly talented with a sword, but the redhead had been training for years. He had just been lucky against his torturer; she had been overcome by anger.

He accidentally stepped on a twig, and a crack echoed through the area. He cursed silently. Aka turned quickly, and stared right at where he was. He couldn't tell if she knew.

She turned away and he mentally sighed in relief. The Hyuuga was walking now, followed by the elder lady, who from time to time would press the blade of the knife against the Hyuuga's arm.

This was his chance. There was just enough distance between them for him to attempt the attack without the fear of injuring the heiress.

He jumped forward.

* * *

He missed. That wasn't good.

Well, he didn't miss, _exactly_. Just missed the heart. Stabbed her leg instead. She let out an outraged scream and swung her knife at him.

He glanced at the heiress for a quick second. Her eyes were wide, filled with fear and—was that hope?

A sting on his arm brought him back to attention. She had cut him enough to bring blood to the surface, and it was flowing freely.

He tried to slice at her, but she was nimble, and with a smaller weapon she could move more fluidly.

Another swing; it cut through his clothes and hit his stomach. He stumbled, but righted himself immediately. They both circled a little, watching each other intently. He noticed she was having trouble walking with her injured leg. He attacked quickly, and managed to hit her other leg, and she hissed.

Both legs injured now, she found it hard to walk around without feeling massive amounts of pain, though she refused to show it.

She heard a loud squeak, and she turned to see the heiress.

The Hyuuga provided a nice distraction, making a loud noise that caught Aka's attention. He took the split second to his advantage, and his sword pierced through her chest, facing the Hyuuga.

She screamed (as much as the gag would let her). Aka let out a strangled grunt before falling to the floor. He cut her head off neatly to prevent her walking away alive.

He undid the gag around her mouth and untied her wrists.

"S-stay away from me!" she stuttered fearfully.

"Calm down, I was just helping you," he said softly.

"W-what do y-you want?" She backed up slightly.

"Come on, let's get you back to the Hyuuga clan house." She relaxed a bit, and after careful consideration (and the realization that he could protect her if there was another person), she followed.

They walked in silence for a few minutes.

"What's your name?" he asked abruptly. She seemed startled.

"O-oh. My name i-is Hinata." He smiled warmly.

"Hinata. That's a pretty name." She blushed.

* * *

**END(?)**


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